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Each of these groups, in turn, is given an expansive regulatory definition, summarized roughly as follows:

health plan means any individual or group plan that provides, or pays the cost of, medical care — including public and private health insurance issuers, HMOs or other managed care organizations, employee benefit plans, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, military/veterans plans, and any other "policy, plan or program" for which a principal purpose is to provide or pay for health care services;

health care provider means a provider of medical or health services, and any other person or organization who furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business; and

In short, an organization that routinely handles protected health information in any capacity is in all probability a covered entity.[1] In turn, the behavior of any person in the covered entity's workforce is covered by extension.